If You Weren't Here
by MagnusSpark
Summary: Oneshot. My first attempt at Malec. Magnus has had a bad day, so who's this in his apartment and what's that funny smell...? A bit of fluff to lighten your day! R&R.


Thanks to Ariviand and Claire for all the encouragement, and for reading this over.

Disclaimer; I don't own Mortal Instruments.

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Magnus stormed into his flat, slamming the front door shut with an angry flick or his wrist. Really, some people deserved everything they got! So what if the werewolves had gotten into an impromptu fight with some vampires, he was not there at their beck and call to heal scrapes and bruises when they couldn't control their tempers. This whole alliance was ruining him; no longer could he wave off a customer if he was too tired and frazzled to work. No, that stupid pact resurfaced and bit him on the ass. It was those Shadowhunters. They had trapped him and brought him down. Well, one Shadowhunter in particular...

Grinding his teeth and mentally cursing aimlessly, he strode into the kitchen and dumped his sequined satchel onto a worktop with a thump. Seriously, it was about time he took a vacation. Long gone were the days where he could wander the globe at his leisure, taking in exotic sites and sampling the world and all its wonders. Now he was stuck in New York applying band aids on overgrown whimpering dogs.

Sighing, he prodded the skin under his eyes with long, delicate fingers. There were bags forming, he was sure of it. He hadn't seen Alec in over a week, their work commitments taking its toll on the amount of time they were able to spend with each other. And Magnus missed having his Alec there at night to cuddle... Chairman Meaow really was no substitute, not being a very snugly cat, he thought, sniffing.

Wait a minute, what was that smell?

Cocking his head to the side, Magnus turned and frowned. Incense? But he hadn't left anything burning when he was out, he never did. He was always so careful. Rubbing his temples, Magnus made his way through to the living room to find the offending smell. It was nice... a cinnamon like scent that reminded him of that perfect Christmas evening he had spent with Alec. They had come back to the flat after a huge feast at the Lightwood's and simply curled up together by the fire, talking quietly and just enjoying each other's company. The sex was good too. Magnus smirked. Of course he had the wonderful inability to keep his mind out of the gutter when his came to his little Shadowhunter, he was just so...delicious.

When was he going be able to see him again? Magnus frowned, his fantasies ruined. He hated having to schedule times with his boyfriend around work. It was all those stupid Downworlder's fault; can't stick to the alliance long enough to stop fighting amongst each other like animals, and as soon as they got hurt they came running to him, demanding to be helped. The high prices he had set had hardly stopped them, much to his disappointment.

The incense was neatly burning in the centre of the living room, smoke lazily wafting the fragrance towards him. Magnus stared at it dumbly for a moment, before crossing the room in two big strides to where it sat mocking him. Sitting on his haunches, he touched one of the carefully arranged red flower petals, tracing their path as they lead off to the right. To his bedroom.

Standing up, he held the rose petal to his nose and sniffed it absentmindedly, the smirk slowly spreading across his face it the situation dawned on him. But no, it couldn't be... he would never - or would he? Just think of the progress that they had made over the past year... Magnus shook his head, determined not to get his hopes up as he followed the trail to this bedroom door. There was music playing inside, and Magnus shut his eyes as he let the notes flow over him, before opening the door slowly.

The room was dim, the only lights coming from candles lit on his dresser and vanity table, and the moon's beam casting through the window and onto the pale skin of his lover. Alec sat on the bed in a black tuxedo, a rose twirling in his fingers and a soft smile on his lips as Magnus took in the sight with amazement. Standing up from the bed, Alec stepped forward to Magnus, handing him the rose shyly.

'God, Alec...this is so amazing. When did...? How did you-?' Magnus blinked as he was silenced with a kiss. Closing his eyes and loosing himself in Alec's gentle embrace, he wondered when exactly the tables had turned, and it was he stumbling over words and struggling for coherence. Not that he minded Alec taking charge, not one bit.

'It's not like you to be lost for words,' Alec gasped as the finally broke apart, resting his forehead on Magnus's and smiling. 'Happy birthday.'

'Yes, well stranger things have happened,' smirked Magnus, biting the Shadowhunters nose playfully before pulling away with a frown. 'Whoa hold on - birthday?'

Alec scrunched up his nose. 'Yes birthday, don't you remember?'

'Apparently not, love. Care to explain?' asked Magnus, gesturing towards the rose petals and the bottle of champagne resting in a bucket of ice. 'This is all very OTT, don't you think? It's not very _Alec_...'

'Well it's not meant to be, is it?' said Alec, pulling the warlock down onto the bed and grabbing some glasses.

'Well what's it supposed to be then?' Magnus asked, accepting a glass of bubbly from Alec, eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

'It's for _you_, of course,' smiled Alec, clinking glasses with him as if it were all so obvious. 'For your birthday.'

'We've been over this already. It's not _actually_ my birthday...'

'Yes, but when you said..._y'know_. That you didn't actually know the date, I thought that maybe we should choose one. I wanted to surprise you...' Alec trailed off, confidence wavering as looked down, swirling the champagne in his glass.

Magnus stared at him. Alec, his Alec, had done all that for him. When they were talking about birthdays and he had explained that he didn't actually know the date, as calendars weren't so big back in those days, he had brushed it off without a second thought. When you've been around for as long as he had, things like that lost their importance. Besides, it was much more fun to have random birthday parties every few years when he felt like it anyway – it made him feel like he wasn't so old... But Alec had remembered, and Alec had planned all this just for him. It made him feel so _loved_. It was usually he who would concoct this kind of romance; he hadn't even thought that Alec had it in him, to be honest.

'Oh _Alec_!' Magnus cried out, throwing his arms around his boyfriend and hugging him tight.

'Uhh... are you okay?' asked an alarmed Alec, rubbing small circles into Magnus's back in an effort to soothe him.

'I love you,' said Magnus sincerely, sitting up once again and looking Alec straight in the eye. 'In all the years I've been on this planet, I don't think I've loved anyone as much as I love you.'

'I love you too. Always,' Alec blushed, looking up at Magnus through thick eyelashes. 'Here.'

Magnus picked up the neatly wrapped package from Alec's hand, his fingers lingering for a moment as their hands touched. Bringing the present up to his face, he turned it over and inspected it closely.

'It's very precisely wrapped. Although I'd expect nothing less from Mr OCD himself,' he said, smiling crookedly as he met Alec's gaze.

Alec resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 'Being neat and having OCD are two very different things,' he reminded the warlock. 'We've been over this...'

'Hmm, whatever you say love,' said Magnus distractedly, shaking the parcel and holding it to his ear.

'You could just open it, you know,' smiled Alec, amused by his boyfriend's reaction to his present. He looked like a small child trying to figure out what was inside it on Christmas Eve.

'I _know_, I'm just savouring the moment,' Magnus said, gently opening the tag attached. 3 Alec. 'Aww you're so _cute_!'

'Get on with it,' this time Alec did roll his eyes, his cheeks reddening once more.

'Okay I will,' giving the gift one last look over, Magnus carefully peeled apart a neatly taped corner.

'Magnus, this isn't heart surgery, you don't need to open it so carefully,' frowned Alec.

'But it's so neat! I don't want to rip it...' Magnus pouted, unwrapping the other side just as the present fell into his lap. 'Oh!'

Magnus held it up, the moonlight hitting against the smooth surface, watching as tiny snowflakes drifted lazily down, landing on the miniature rooftops with the glass bubble. Eyes wide he watched, spellbound, as the little flecks settled on the tall spire of the Eiffel Tower within.

'It's Paris,' Alec said, leaning in closer to Magnus as stared at the snow globe with child like wonderment. 'When you were telling me about travelling around Europe, you seemed to love Paris so much. So, until we can go there ourselves, I thought I'd bring Paris to you.'

Shifting on the bed, Alec bit his lip and stared at the sparkly warlock, worried at the lack of reaction. What if he didn't like it after all, and was trying to think of a nice way of telling him? Nervously twisting his hands together, Alec tried desperately of a way to break the silence. 'So, uhh, if you don't like it I guess we could just go to Tiki's. I made up a basket of French food, and there's some wine there, but I don't know if you want to – mphh!'

Magnus pressed his lips against Alec's, dropping the snow globe as he hooked his arms around Alec's neck and pushed his body in, craving contact. The broke apart, breathless, Magnus laying butterfly kisses along his cheekbone up to his ear.

'Thank you,' his whispered, lips brushing against Alec's ear as he nuzzled into his neck, swaying into the embrace. 'I _love_ you. I can't believe you went to all this trouble for me... you really listen, don't you?'

'Of course I do,' said Alec, frowning. 'I always listen to you. I've made too many mistakes in the past because I didn't listen and I don't plan on loosing anyone else.'

Squeezing him tightly, Magnus sighed. He wanted to stay like this forever, happy and in love with Alec by his side. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to block out his ever present fears... _Alec isn't going to be here forever now, is he? _No, not tonight. He wasn't going to dwell on it on this beautiful night...

'So, what's all this about food?' he asked, sitting upright and pasting a smile on his face.

'Oh yeah!' Alec got up and pulled out wicker picnic basket from behind the warlock's huge chest of drawers, unfolding a picnic blanket and setting it out neatly on the carpet.

'Hey, wait a minute... Alec, did you clean up in here?' asked Magnus, noticing the lack of clothes scattered on the floor and spilling out of his drawers. 'Huh. I didn't know they could even shut!'

'Yeah, well you were longer than I thought you'd be and I got bored...' blushed Alec, wiping invisible flecks off his dress trousers.

Magnus grinned. If he weren't such a gentleman, he would have jumped Alec by now and would have had all those nasty clothes off in an instant. The reserved Shadowhunter was just so _adorable_ it should be illegal. Instead, he sat on the blanket and crossed his long legs, picking up an empty glass. 'So, what are we drinking?'

'Champagne. I don't usually drink it, but I figured it's a special occasion,' said Alec, busying himself by opening the bottle and filling the glasses as his blush slowly faded.

Sipping contentedly, Magnus leaned back on one hand and shut his eyes, letting the smells and music wash over him. It really was just like a warm Paris evening, perfect. 'Alec, have you ever been to Paris?'

'No, why?' Alec asked, taking a small sip of his drink as he looked up at the relaxed warlock.

'We're going to go,' Magnus decided. 'This summer.'

'Really?'

'Yes. And we're going to drink wine by the river Seine and make love under the stars...' continued Magnus dreamily, eyes still shut as he spoke. 'Alec, what song is this?'

'Um... si tu n'etais pas la? I think that's how you pronounce it,' said Alec uncertainly, reading the back of a CD cover and frowning. 'It's from the Amelie soundtrack, that French film Isabelle loves.'

'I love it. C'mon, let's dance!' declared Magnus, opening his eyes and standing up.

Alec flushed bright red. 'No, I'm not much of a dancer...'

'But it's my _birthday_, you said so yourself! Just one?' Magnus pleaded, holding out his hand to Alec and wiggling his fingers.

Taking the outstretched hand with a sigh, Alec found himself leaning against his boyfriend with his head laying on Magnus's chest as they swayed along to the music. Lips quirking upwards, he raised his head to kiss Magnus softly, head tilting and eyes closing lazily. So maybe dancing wasn't so bad after all, he thought as they broke apart, foreheads touching.

'_Si tu n'etais pas là, comment pourrais-je vivre? Je ne connaitrais pas ce bonheur qui m'enivre. Quand je suis dans tes bra mon coeur joyeux se livre. Comment pourrais-je vivre, si tu n'etais pas là?' _Magnus sang along softly,reaching out a long arm to spin Alec round, before holding him close once more, moonlight streaming over them.

End.

Rough translation;

'If you were not here, how could I live? I don't understand this happiness which intoxicates me. When I am in your arms, my joyful heart comes to life. How could I live, if you were not here?'


End file.
